This invention relates generally to improvements in devices and systems for carbonating and chilling water, particularly with respect to dispenser stations and/or vending machines and the like for use in mixing and dispensing chilled carbonated beverages. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved carbonator system designed for more efficient gas-water mixing and chilling of the resultant beverage.
Carbonated water systems are generally known in the art for mixing a carbonating gas, such as carbon dioxide gas, with a fresh water supply to producing a highly pleasing and refreshing carbonated beverage which is often mixed in suitable proportion with a flavored syrup or the like. Such carbonator systems are often employed in soft drink dispenser stations and/or vending machines or the like and are adapted to dispense the carbonated soft drink beverage in individual servings, typically on the order of 6-8 ounce servings. In this form, the system typically includes a water reservoir adapted to receive fresh water from a tap water or similar source, with the reservoir being encased within surrounding cooling coils of a mechanical refrigeration unit such that the water within the reservoir is chilled to desired low temperature. The carbonating gas is supplied to the reservoir at a regulated pressure for intermixing with the chilled water to produce the carbonated beverage. Injectors and/or stirring agitator devices are often employed to enhance gas-liquid intermixing. A dispenser valve is normally provided for dispensing the beverage from the reservoir, typically in coordinated operation with a refill valve such that a volume of water dispensed from the reservoir is concurrently replaced by a fresh volume from the water source.
Although carbonated water systems of the above-described general type have achieved relatively broad commercial use, a variety of problems and disadvantages are present. For example, to achieve adequate chilling of the water within the reservoir, it has been necessary to construct and operate the refrigeration unit in a manner producing an annular ice block or ice ring within the reservoir at the periphery thereof. The presence of this ice ring effectively reduces the overall available volume of the water reservoir which, in an optimized system, is designed to be relatively compact to minimize power requirements of the refrigeration unit. Unfortunately, as a result, the residence time of a given water volume within the reservoir may be reduced such that achieving the desired low temperature level of the final beverage becomes difficult or impossible when several servings are dispensed at close time intervals. Moreover, a refill volume of water entering the reservoir may be subjected to a relatively direct and undesired flow path through the center of the ice ring between a reservoir inlet and dispensing outlet. Achieving the desired low temperature of the final beverage is further complicated by the fact that the carbonated water is often mixed during dispensing with a proportional quantity of a selected flavor syrup which, if not separately refrigerated, acts to warm the already inadequately chilled carbonated water.
There exists, therefore, a significant need for further improvements in carbonated water systems for use in preparing and dispensing carbonated beverages, wherein the residence time of each refill water volume within a refrigerated reservoir is increased to achieve substantially improved chilling and concurrent gas mixing despite dispensing of multiple servings in rapid succession, and further wherein the development of a reservoir ice ring and/or the need for separate syrup refrigeration are substantially eliminated. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.